For those of you who just stumbled onto my blog, or if you are one of followers, no, you did not miss a post. I know the title says “Day 2” but I didn’t have anything to write about Day 1. As you can imagine, I was soooooo tired the day after that my brain was mushed, my energy level was low, and my motivation to write a blog post matched my energy level.
I don’t like to get political on my blog, especially during the pandemic. In my previous post on the vaccine mandate, “No Vax, No Job, No Service?“, I said that if you have a legitimate medical reason why you cannot be vaccinated, the government should be protecting you, not harassing you. Their narrative is that your refusal is detrimental to society. You’re not. FLOTUS Jill Biden is a doctor and she should know better. Even the intake form on the flu vaccine asks if you are allergic or have other medical conditions that prevent you from getting the vaccine. You may argue that Covid-19 is worse than the flu and thus require extraordinary measures. True, but it shouldn’t override basic medical precautions that any first year medical student knows.
That said, I am going to recount my booster experience and hope that it encourages you.
03:30PM I arrive 30 minutes before my appointment at Rite-Aid. Seeing that the line at the pharmacy was non-existent, I decided there was no reason to wait. I talked to the pharmacist who took my docs and prepped the vax.
03:40PM. The pharmacist vaccinates me. She completes the docs and I decided to wait 10 minutes just in case I have a sudden reaction.
03:50PM. The alarm playing Louie Louie goes off. Still alive, except my right arm starts itching. This is weird since the injection site was on my left bicep.
11:20PM. Bedtime. So far so good; I feel the normal soreness at the injection site. I am starting to get thirsty – also expected
02:0~AM. Thirsty. Get a drink. Go back to bed.
04:0~AM. Thirsty. Drink some more. Go back to bed.
06:45AM. The alarm goes off. In reality, I was already awake at 06:40AM. Can’t move.
07:30AM. Wide awake but unable to move. Managed to crawl out of bed to text my supervisor. “I can’t make it in today.” Managed to crawl back in bed.
08:20AM. Wide awake but able to move a bit. Headache, fatigue, and I take some meds. The symptoms go away but not enough.
09:00AM. Called my friend from Texas.
09:47AM. Ended my call. Great conversation but now I have no energy again.
10:20AM. PBJ sandwich. Yummmmmmmm..
11:30AM. Let’s build a difficult puzzle that is all black with blue.
01:30PM. 22 hours have passed. Let’s celebrate! Actually, you celebrate, I’ll just rest.
06:30PM. Dinner – Venison porridge. Special treat! Not. The real reason: “My brother got a new Insta-pot and he’s breaking it in with a Chinese-Finnish fusion dish!”
11:40PM. Bedtime again. Hello again, Bed. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
06:45AM, Friday, Jan 14. Woke up to the acoustic guitars by Hans Zimmer “Mogadishu Blues” from the Black Hawk Down soundtrack. Nice way to wake up. Day 2 has begun.
Life is normal again. That strange itch on my right arm is gone. Instead, my core is stiff and sore as if I did 40 crunches in a row. However, I haven’t exercised that muscle in a while. There are odd aches in weird places. My brain is fine; I drove to work and had a productive day. Thus endeth day 2.
Morale of the story: the booster is survivable but be ready for a surreal 48 hours.
Oh, and I had gotten the Moderna booster. The first two shots were also Moderna. If you had gotten Pfizer, sorry, but you’re going to hurt even more according to my friend Eunice. You are free to comment below and share your story.
amicusveritae 